What does religion mean in people's daily lives? In what ways is it a component of ethnic identity? How do religious identities and structures relate to other social identities and structures and to political and economic institutions and behavior? How can Muslim-Christian relations be understood in the context of the emergence of the world capitalist system? These are some of the questions addressed by the authors of this volume. Their collective goal--growing out of a desire to understand the continuing war in Lebanon--is to study the circumstances under which religious differences become politically salient.